According to “ Lördagsgodis : Sweden's saturday-only candy tradition” (Savage, 2021), Swedes’ trend to buy and eat candy only on saturday has been widely followed and has been proved by many experts to help citizens promote financial freedom. It was begun in the 1950s by the Swedish medical authorities in order to reduce cases of dental decay, and Swedes cooperatively follow this advice to allow their children to buy and eat sweets only on saturday. Children are given weekly pocket money, which cannot be added to, and they have to budget for the Saturday candy. Encouraging financial responsibility from a young age allows them to maintain their healthy saving habits when they grow up. Not only education and healthcare, but also the monthly child benefit of 1,250 kroner is supported by the Swedish government. This allows parents to provide a weekly allowance for their kids without financial pressure. Nowadays, many families have still embraced this tradition on a weekly basis although Sweden is likely to develop into a cashless society in the future.
Reference
Savage, M. (2021, October 8). Lördagsgodis : Sweden's saturday-only candy tradition. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20211004-lrdagsgodis-swedens-saturday-only-candy-tradition
Yok's chosen article was one that I had seen but passed over when I was browsing the BBC over my morning coffee a couple of days ago. It looked interesting, and the colourful image certainly caught my eye, but I can't read everything, so passed on to another article. When read Yok's summary, I realized how interesting the article was. Even if I had not had to read his source to review Yok's summary, I still would have. Who would have thought sugary sweets could be so socially healthy in so many ways?
ReplyDeleteIt also took me back to my childhood, when the only time we were allowed to buy sweets was after church on Sundays. The holy days of Christmas were also celebrated with sugar binges. It makes me feel a bit ill to think of it today, but all those cheerfully coloured sweets were a real treat when I was a child, even the cool cigarette lollies.
It's OK if your comment exceeds the length of the blog post you are responding to.
DeleteYok your article is very interesting in term of how the medical authorities idea results in the government's support. Although dental decaying in children was not an urgent issue, the government concerned it and took an action to help the kid grown up healthier. The government support drew a motivation and attention that can convey them to follow, the massive act from the whole country reduced an unhealthy habit and truly benefit their citizen.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Yok, thank you for your summary on what has happened in Sweden. It is very useful to think about if our country can do the same thing to promote 'financial responsibility and health'. I like it when Sweden really cares about their citizen and has taken it seriously. In Thailand, I don't think that the country has really done and implemented policies to facilitate Thai people to be responsible for their finance and health. As I understand it, they have promoted these two things by using advertisements such as 'จน เคลียด กินเหล้า' and so on. However, I think it isn't effective enough to educate Thai people and have them to put it into practice.
DeleteBy the way, I think I can apply what has done in Sweden to myself. Recently I've been addicted to sugary foods and drinks, so I'll try to allow myself to eat them on Saturday only.
ReplyDelete